Car-seal.



1. L. SHADLBY.

GAB. SEAL.

APPLIOATIGN FILED DEU. 27, 1909.

Patented 0111.111910.r

ATTORNEYS nas :wals Pzrcffs can. wnsnmcrzm. u. c.

FRANK L. SHADLEY, 0F STERLING, NEBRASKA.

CAR-SEAL.

Application filed December 27, 1909.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 11, 1910.

Serial No. 535,664.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. SHADLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ot Sterling, in the county of Johnson and State oit Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to self-locking car seals and has for its object to produce a simple, cheap and eicient device ot' the character mentioned which shall-provide absolute security. l

My invention consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims, ret'- erence being had to the accompanying diagram in which- Figure l is a tace view ot my seal in its locked position, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same on line 2 2 of Fig. l, Fig. 3 is a similar section showing the location ot parts just prior to linal locking, Fig. t is a perspective view of the shackle or strap with the keeper removed.

In carrying out my invent-ion I take a single sheet metal strap A and near one end cutout an oblong portion leaving a slot A; a short distance from said slot I strike up a tongue A2, the tree end of which projects toward the slotted portion; I then bend back the strap as at @between said slot and tongue, leaving the bent end projecting rearwardly and horizontally as shown in Fig. A. The other' end of the strap is provided with the substantially square opening B, and just in the rear of said opening B, a tongue B is struck out the free end of said tongue proj ecting away from the opening B.

I provide a head or case C which consists of the plate C having its outer end turn-ed over as at c and the side edges t-urned over at c', these turned over edges forming a guide to receive the edges c2 of the top plate C2 which are stamped so as to set below the plane of plate C2. Near the inner end of the top plate C2 a portion is stamped or pressed out forming a socket C3, the purpose of which top will appear later on. The head or case C is completed by associating the bottom and top plates C and C2 and the turned over edges c and c mashed down over the edges c2 ot' the top plate C2 and then soldered, making the head or case a rigid rectangular keeper open only at its rear end.

To use my improved device the strap or shackle is passed through the staple on the car door and the end having the turned back portion in which is the slot A is forced into the case C as shown in Fig. 3 until the bent end a strikes against the end ot the case; the

tongue A2 will spring up into the slot A, the

end of the strap having the slot B is now inserted into the case C, said end sliding on the end A until it reaches the tongue A2 which it forces downwardly .until the slot B passes over said tongue A2 where the tongue springs upwardly through the slot B and into the slot A again: while this action is taking place the spring tongue B has passed beyond the rear end of the turned back portion of the end A and springs upwardly through the slot A and into the socket C3 and rests on the edge of the slot A as shown in Fig. 2; the edge of the top plate C2 is turned in to form a recess or seat c3 within which the end ot the turned back end will lie and prevent t-he withdrawal of the interlocked ends of the strap from the head, as is plainly shown in Figs. 2 and 8.

It will thus be seen that I produce a simple, cheap and positive seal which can only be opened by destroying the same, so that tampering with same will readily be discovered.

I claiml. A seal comprising a casing or head and a sheet metal shackle, said shackle having bent back portion at one end, said bent back portion having an elongated slot therein, and a tongue projecting from the strap below said slot, the other end of the shackle having' an opening near its free end and a rearwardly projecting spring tongue in the rear of said opening, the head or casing having a socket in its upper face to form a seat for the end of the last mentioned spring tongue and retain the shackle within the casing or head.

2. In a car seal the combination with a strap, a shackle having one end bent back and slotted longitudinally, a spring tongue projecting upwardly from said strap below the slot, the other end portion of the strap having an opening near its free end, a spring tongue projecting rearwardly from the strap adjacent to said opening, and adapted to project through the longitudinal slot in the bent over end ot the strap, and a head or casing to receive the interlocked ends of the shackle, said casing having a socket in its upper wall to receive the end of the rearwardly projecting spring tongue, the rear edge of the upper wall of said casing bent downwardly and inwardly to form a seat for the end of the said turned back end, to prevent withdrawal of the interlocked ends of the shackle from the casing or head.

3. In a car seal, the combination with a casing or head comprising an open ended box, the upper wall of which is provided with a socket, and the rear end of said upper wall bent downwardly and inwardly to orin a rest or socket, of a shackle or strap having 

